Spicin' Bison

By Lucinda Hutson

Barney made an impressive getaway! He busted through the gate of the neighboring estate, trampled the new landscape and catapulted 1,800 pounds of bulk into the swimming pool—pulverizing its imported mosaic tiles in the process. Even though he caused $10,000 worth of damage, Barney wasn’t ground into patties, but rescued because he was much beloved—the only bull in a small herd. Yep, Barney was a bison (aka a buffalo), raised on my friend’s Hill Country ranch about 15 years ago.

Cooking Greens

By Lucinda Hutson
Photography by Lucinda Hutson

My grandmother loved Galatoire’s, the iconic New Orleans restaurant where customers have sipped Sazerac cocktails and enjoyed traditional French Creole fare like oysters en brochette, shrimp rémoulade and crabmeat maison for over a century. It was in Grandma’s honor that I slipped out of a recent conference to poke my head into this French Quarter establishment, even though I knew it wasn’t yet open for lunch.

Pastured Poultry: Vital Farms

By David Ansel
Photography by Robert Kraft (self-potrait) and David Ansel (mobile chicken unit)

“My guitar is under the bed, next to all the rifles,” says Robert Kraft, manager of Austin’s Vital Farms. It stands to reason that an egg farmer/short-story writer/carpenter/voice-over specialist/fugitive-recovery private detective/jazz singer/heavy-equipment operator/guitarist would naturally stash important possessions under the bed of his two-room trailer.

Zen and the Art of Food Maintenance

By Robin Bradford
Illustration By Kylie Budge

Everything in our lives is practice.
—Dogen, Instructions for the Zen Cook

Our group of 20 Zen students ranges in age from 25 to 75, and when we’re not chasing enlightenment at Zen camp we love burgers, Diet Coke, wine, M&Ms and seaweed. It’s up to me to feed us for a week, even though with the exception of a long-ago fling with an Italian who taught me to turn Romas into marinara sauce, I have no training as a cook.

Lara Nixon's Bitters

By Veronica Meewes
Photography by Dustin Meyer

As handcrafted pickles and house-cured meats continue to grace the pages of menus across town, and waiters wax at length about where local greens were sourced, more and more local bartenders are also arming themselves with an artisanal arsenal: aromatic bitters made either in-house or by small-batch producers.

Praise the Lard

Live long enough, and eventually you’ll witness repeating food and fashion trends. Personally, I didn’t think I’d see that ’70s look—bell-bottoms, platform shoes and polyester—ever again. Surprise!

In the food category, we’ve observed a return of the fondue craze and renewed interest in home canning and, believe it or not, lard.

Herbal Vinegars

By Lucinda Hutson
Photography by Lucinda Hutson

A generous splash of vinegar—with its tart and tangy essence and intense burst of pure flavor—can brighten and balance a recipe like nothing else. My kitchen shelves are laden with aromatic vinegars of every kind—from syrupy, aged balsamic to fruity pear, fig, raspberry and blood orange, to rice, sherry, champagne, red wine and, of course, my favorite homemade herbal vinegars.

For the Birds

By Carol Ann Sayle 
Illustration by Jenna Noel

In Central Texas, September is a major planting month. It starts off, unfortunately, as hot as summer, and often as dry—conditions that make it tough to start crops of vegetables that love cooler temperatures. We hope for the miracle rains that might purge our ground of summer’s inevitable sodium buildup—and resulting rise in pH—and keep our soil intact so that it doesn't leave the farm as dust. We also hope that the days don’t bring unwanted visitors of the nonhuman kind.

Lay of the Land

By Jessica Dupuy
Photography by

At first glance, Elgin is one of those quaint small towns east of Austin with a historic district and a laid-back feel. And thanks to companies Meyer’s and Southside Market, it’s known as the sausage capital of Texas. Yet, if you look a little deeper, you’ll discover Elgin’s identity is deeply rooted in the soil as a vibrant farming community. With an ever-encroaching Austin skyline from the west, though, and developers eyeing the fertile landscape for suburban development, the potential threat to Elgin’s farming community grows palpable.

La Cruz de Comal

By Jessica Dupuy
Photography by Andy Sams 

There’s a little winery near Canyon Lake that’s turning heads among Central Texas’s top wine experts. La Cruz de Comal, nestled in a small valley just beyond New Braunfels, is fast becoming known for producing crisp, delicate wines that reveal an authentic character for the place in which they were made. One sip, and you’ll taste an inherent uniqueness—something a little different about these wines.

Flight of the Honeybee

By Susan M. Cashin
Photography by Lucinda Hutson

Beginning in 2006, and appearing again last spring, a mystery worthy of a CSI team hit professional beekeepers in the U.S. Once healthy and well-populated honeybee colonies were discovered devoid of bees, with only the queen and a few worker bees left in each hive. No bodies were found outside the hives, no signs of marauders; the bees were simply missing and the colonies died.

A+S

By Terrence Henry
Photography by Jody Horton

The adventures of A+S Farm began on a drizzly morning in the spring of 2008 with “The Great Chick Run,” as Amy and Shaun Jones—a newly married couple in their late twenties—set out from Houston to Fayette County to become sustainable farmers. In the car with them were 150 chicks in a cardboard box, kept warm by a heat lamp running off of the car battery—a move that resulted in a completely drained battery by the time they reached the farm.

Tomato Sauce

When I think of tomato sauce, I think of a crimson pool speckled with green, orange and off-white flecks of herbs and aromatics; a savory, slightly acidic—with the insinuated suggestion of sweetness—and hearty yet sophisticated base for an infinite number of soul-pleasing meals.

Of course, tomato is the star of this show—anything added to the pot after or before is merely acting in a supporting role.

A Side of Fresh

The bevy of bars near 7th and Red River in downtown Austin may not be the first destination for a seasoned locavore, but revelers in search of a uniquely farm-to-glass cocktail should dive into the side bar. Behind its long, L-shaped bar, under a Bob Wills poster and next to the beer taps, sit two giant decanters filled with delectable vodkas infused with locally sourced, seasonal produce and spices, just waiting to delight the most discerning foodie’s taste buds.

My Gluten-Free Life

By Rebecca Saltsman
Photography by Jenna Noel

I love cooking, eating and talking about food, and I’m constantly thinking about my next meal even while enjoying the current one. Finding and preparing new foods and serving other people dishes they’ve never tried before are my passions. I also enjoy disproving preconceived notions about certain foods and what it means to eat well, healthfully…and with dietary restrictions. It’s true—I’m one of more than 20 million people in America living with gluten sensitivity, but it doesn’t define me or how I eat. Sometimes it’s challenging, but most of the time it’s very easy.

Tomato Tying Time

We all like to be needed in some way, don’t we? Being an especially attentive spouse, say, or an exemplary parent, a trusted friend or a pillar of the community, not only nudges a person toward the guarantee of good karma, but also helps give a certain meaning to life. A reason to get up every morning, at the very least.

Secrets of Salt

By Amy Reynolds
Photography by Jody Horton

Salt is the most universal condiment found on the planet. And not just the iodine-laden, burned-at-1,000-degrees-Fahrenheit shaker salt we all know, but the sun- and earth-baked, mineral-filled, rainbow-hued, sea and rock salts dotted across the globe now gaining in popularity. With an almost 5,000-year history of making and breaking the strongest of empires, inciting wars and causing the construction and destruction of countless cities, salt might be considered the most valuable treasure in human history.

Green Corn Project: Paula Gilbert

By Suzanne Hurley